What can Twitter teach you about communicating? A lot. But probably one of the most important elements of communication that Twitter can teach you is this: to be clear, concise, and straightforward with what you are trying to say.
Twitter helps you get right to the point,without wasting words, breath, or time.
When you send out a tweet, you only have 140 characters to type something. So you have to be straightforward and clear abut what you are trying to say, in a short amount of space. (NOTE: You can write more than 140 characters, but then people have to go to TwitLonger to see all that you wrote, and no no one really wants to do that.)
Have you ever been talking with someone who’s telling a story, when all of a sudden you get to the end of their story and you are left thinking, “ok…where were they going with that?”
Well, if that person had used Twitter more, that storytelling/communication problem could have been eliminated (it’s a possibility, not a guarantee).
When people talk and tell stories, often what happens is that there is a lot of unneeded “fluff” – extra details that don’t need to be included – without a lot of purpose and clarity in their communication. Now, “fluff” is important, because it helps paint the picture for the listener who is hearing the story; but too much “fluff” is bad because it makes a story (or any form of communication) muddy and unclear. (Which leaves the other person wondering, “what were they trying to say exactly?”). Since you only have 140 characters to say something, Twitter helps eliminate the “fluff” and get to the heart of what you are trying to say.
If you want to grow your communication skills, Twitter is a very practical, hands-on way to do so. I recommend you give it a shot (and if you are currently on Twitter, stick with it and over time your communication skills will increase).
What has your experience been with Twitter? Have you seen your communication skills grow from using it (or another social media tool)?
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